Lots of good quality folders have been mentioned here and I own one or two of several of the brands mentioned like a Benchmade AFCK, several Spyderco's and a CRKT. Before I started working in a place were I have to go through security every day, I had one of them in my pocket every day. Still feel naked without, but on the boat I have a cheap West Marine sheepfoot type blade for a folder. Its nowhere near as durable a knife as a Spyderco or Benchmade but it gets the job done and is no big deal if it goes overboard. Good quality locking folders with one hand opening are not cheap and an equivalent automatic would be a good deal more expensive than the thumb opener.

That said it would probably be a better idea to have a couple of decent fixed blade dive knives stowed at the cockpit and mast rather than a folder in your pocket though.

Onboard, i've got rigging knives, swiss army knives, dive knifes, scaling knives, leatherman tools... but the knife that always seems to be at hand is this cheapo:

I got it as a Christmas gift, just a stocking stuffer, but it is a better knife than it has any right to be.

Lockback knife blade on one end, retractable utility blade on the other, opens easily with one hand. The only drawback, which wasn't that hard to rectify, is there was no lanyard ring. two minutes on the drill press and a flag clip solved that problem.
I'm not a big fan of spring knives, simply because i have lost two overboard, both times when I tried to open them with greasy hands. Sprung right out of my hand and gone.

I'm not a big fan of spring knives, simply because i have lost two overboard, both times when I tried to open them with greasy hands. Sprung right out of my hand and gone.

You're not supposed to get the "flying" models for that very reason.

In my earlier post I was reluctant to relate one of my experiences with a spring-loaded knife... a friend of mine (security police) had one on his belt, and I asked to see it. So he hands it to me, and I'm looking it over, pawing around on it and he gets really nervous, and finally asked to have it back in a funny voice - I had been holding it with my finger on the "trigger" where the blade would have opened me up had I pressed it. He didn't tell me it did that, and I didn't suspect.
His was a police model, and if accidently triggered, would have made quite a mess.
I can one hand a Spyderco just fine, thank you.

For cruisers, you also have to remember that even any knife that can be opened with one hand may be illegal in other countries.

I worked on a project and we had a Danish film company following us around and sending video and newspaper stories off about us daily. They all carried knives you could open one-handed. It was really funny because if you asked for a knife, all of them would whip out a knife and open it. I finally asked about it and they said that these knives are illegal in Denmark so they ALWAYS carried them out of the country and hid them at home. They went on to explain that they bought them in the US at a gun show when they were doing a series of articles on guns in the US. Those guys were a hoot to work with.

I worked on a project and we had a Danish film company following us around and sending video and newspaper stories off about us daily. They all carried knives you could open one-handed. It was really funny because if you asked for a knife, all of them would whip out a knife and open it...

I worked for more than a decade on a military installation, and what you describe is normal behavior for military guys...
ask if anyone has a knife, and all you can hear all around you is "snick, snick, snick" as blades are being popped open.
Then you have the difficulty of trying to choose which knife to use, while everyone else passes their knives around and admires/discusses. Lots of entertainment value.

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